Page:The book of wonder voyages (1919).djvu/218

 the covetousness of their comrades. Then we came to another room, in which lay a still richer treasure and arms too great and too massive for men of this earth to bear. There, too, was a king's mantle, embroidered with rich and brilliant silks which shone like the colors of the rainbow, a hat adorned with the many-colored feathers of some rare bird, and a marvelously wrought belt intertwined with chains of the most costly jewels. Now, the longing to possess these wonderful things seemed to shake my being to its very center. I, who had so often counseled others, could not, to save my life, master my own desires. So, with no other thought than that of longing to possess, I laid my hand upon the mantle, while my men followed my example and took all that came in their way. Then, all of a sudden, the place began to shake as if with an earthquake, and to reel and totter to and fro. Immediately the women shrieked out that the wicked robbers were staying too long. And those hideous beings which had looked like phantoms, seemed to obey the women's cries, for they all at once leaped from their seats and began to attack us furiously. The other creatures bellowed hoarsely. Broder and Buchi attacked the witches, who ran at them, with a shower of spears from every side, while they crushed the monsters with the missiles from their bows and slings. There could be no more manful or successful way of repulsing them, yet only twenty of all the king's company were rescued, the rest being torn to pieces by the monsters. The survivors returned